Week 3 Is Jermaine Burton’s Golden Opportunity To Break Out
Cara Owsley/Imagn Images
Last year, on a cool Sunday afternoon in December, I felt confident in then-Bengals rookie Chase Brown. Prior to the upcoming game, I put out a social media post that said “Bold prediction: Chase Brown gets his first career TD today.”
A little over an hour later, this happened.
CHASE BROWN 54-YARDS TO THE HOUSE. @DrewGarrison, @willie_lutz RB1…? pic.twitter.com/ng4wMubhCm
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 10, 2023
Why not see if we can go two-for-two? Bold prediction: This Monday, rookie Jermaine Burton is going to do the same.
Burton was selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft and was the leading receiver at Alabama in 2023. His ability to be a deep threat and take the top off of defenses made Zac Taylor bang the table in exuberance on draft night.
Think Bengals HC Zac Taylor is hyped for the Jermaine Burton pick pic.twitter.com/pVHzhQMKU7
— Jordan Dajani (@JordanDajani) April 27, 2024
Burton had a strong preseason where he lived up to hype as a big-play receiver, and his quarterbacks enjoyed a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he was targeted. However, Burton came with some character baggage that allowed him to slip to the end of Day 2 of the draft. In fact, a lot of those maturity concerns turned out to have validity, as there was a period of time where, instead of banging hands on the table, he made the Bengals’ coaching staff bang their heads against the wall.
“The Bengals won’t put [Burton] out there — or even make him active on gameday — until they feel comfortable he’s preparing in meetings, will be in the right spots and can be trusted by the quarterback,” wrote Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.
However, things have seemed to take a much better turn for the explosive rookie. While he only caught one pass on Sunday against the Chiefs, it was a big one.
JOE BURROW TO JERMAINE BURTON BOMB 💣 pic.twitter.com/tjYtMVGECE
— PFF (@PFF) September 15, 2024
In addition, he seems to have given the Michael Jordan “And I took that personally” meme treatment towards the critics of his professionalism.
“I was really proud of his attention to detail this week and the emphasis that he put in,” Zac Taylor said in a press conference on Monday. “There was (an) opportunity for that role to increase this week; it didn’t always play out that way as the game went. But he was locked in and we felt a lot of confidence in him as we went through the week.”
His fellow receivers have also taken notice.
“I feel like Jermaine has made a big, tremendous jump on just knowing his players, knowing what he needs to be and knowing what he’s used for,” Ja’Marr Chase said.
After starting the season 0-2, Burton, as well as the entire Bengals organization, have a perfect chance to get back on track against the Washington Commanders. Cincinnati always plays well with a chip on their shoulder, and the passing offense will likely have the services of Tee Higgins once again. With Chase and Higgins commanding the majority of the attention in the secondary, it will open up space for Burton to build off of his promising Week 2 and take the top off Washington’s defense.
How is the Commanders’ secondary, you ask? As the kids say, it’s cheeks.
Commanders are going to break so many records this season. Gotta be the worst secondary ive ever seen
— Marc Luino (@GiraffeNeckMarc) September 15, 2024
In 2023, Washington ranked dead-last in the NFL in passing yards allowed, passing TDs allowed, and passer rating against, and 2024 hasn’t been much better. In Week 1, Baker Mayfield put on a show against the Commanders, as he had four touchdowns and the NFL’s highest passer rating of the week (146.4) en route to being named the FedEx Air Player of the Week. In Week 2, despite the Commanders taking home the win, Daniel Jones threw two touchdowns and zero interceptions, numbers that seem to defy the laws of science.
The Commanders once again lead the NFL in touchdown passes and passer rating allowed, and are one of nine teams thus far to not record an interception. In addition, Joe Burrow is one of seven quarterbacks to start in Weeks 1 and 2 that has yet to have thrown an interception.
While Burton likely won’t have eye-popping receiving totals that Chase or Higgins have produced in the past, he is more than capable of making a handful of difference-making chunk plays that made him a fan favorite in the preseason. After Burrow aired it out against a very good Kansas City Chiefs defense, he should have no issue slinging it against a Commanders’ pass defense that feels like it can get beaten by mall-walkers.
The Bengals pass defense is finally picking up and Burrow is quickly on his way to returning to form. Even if the Chase/Higgins duo steals the show, there is every reason to believe that Burton can break out, make highlight-reel plays, and come through in a massive way in a supporting role.
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